


Name

by Kelyon



Series: Golden Cuffs 'Verse [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:35:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23438560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelyon/pseuds/Kelyon
Summary: Rumpelstiltskin hears Belle calling out to him
Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Series: Golden Cuffs 'Verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1698358
Comments: 20
Kudos: 56





	Name

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Golden Cuffs](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17305001) by [Kelyon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelyon/pseuds/Kelyon). 



> Based on a series of TMI Tuesday questions about what Rumple can hear while Belle is crying for him and how he feels about the whole situation.

He can hear his name wherever it is spoken.

Most of what is said about the Dark One is mere folklore, but that much is true. If someone knows his true name and calls it out loud, he will hear it. He is not compelled to answer, not unless the speaker also possesses the dagger that is locked away in a room without a door, but Rumpelstiltskin does hear every time someone says the magic word.

He hears it now, falling from the lips of the only person who ever used it freely. No--not freely. She was never free. He never allowed her to be free.

He trapped her in a cage even worse than the one she’s in now. An invisible cage, without bars or locks. A cage that the girl had made herself, a cage around her own heart. 

He had trapped her there, even if he hadn’t meant to, hadn’t wanted to. He had wanted a literal imprisonment--dungeons and darkness and distance. He’d wanted to enjoy the pains and pleasures of her body without ever touching her heart. 

But over time--so quickly it made his head spin--the nature of her captivity changed. Gone was her cell and her degradation, gone were the punishments and the tauntings. The marks he’d left on her body faded and were not replaced by new wounds. They had become closer to each other. All the tangible trappings of her station fell away, even as the intangible bonds grew ever stronger. Too strong for her to break on her own.

She cried for him. Even now, even after this ultimate cruelty, she called out to him. And even with all the power of the Dark One, he could not shut out the sound. She begged him for help, for an explanation. The child wanted to  _ understand _ him. With her sweet, guileless heart, she thought the two of them would be able to work this out if only they could speak to each other honestly. 

Her innocence was a scourge to his evil soul. Twisted in sorrow, her lovely voice rang in his ears like a cacophony. He felt like he was inside a metal bowl and every time she called his name, it was a hammer being thrown down with a thunderous clang. 

Most damning of all, she  _ apologized _ . She apologized to  _ him _ ! She apologized for asking for his  _ kindness! _ What he had given her had never been kindness. It had only ever been decency, the very least that she deserved. 

Burdened with the weight of his self-condemnation, Rumpelstiltskin staggered from the library to his tower. Blinded by tears, he felt for the straw at his spinning wheel. After centuries as a spinner he could work his craft by feel and memory. Spinning was always the best way to ease his mind, to keep himself from thinking about his failures, his mistakes, his innumerable sins.

Spinning helped him forget. 

Her voice grew quieter in his mind, fainter. He spun and spun and over time the calls grew less frequent. Day by day, she lost faith in him. Day by day she freed herself. Soon it would be over. Soon he would be at peace. The day would come when she would never call him again.

Soon, Belle would stop loving him. 


End file.
